Gillingham striker Adam Birchall doesn’t fear competition at the club and believes it could be good in the long term.

The 27 year old former Arsenal and Dover Athletic striker is one of four senior strikers at Priestfield now following the arrival of Deon Burton.

Along with Danny Kedwell and Ben Strevens, Birchall is fighting for two places in Martin Allen’s starting line up for the season opener against Bristol City in the Capital One Cup First Round tie at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night.

Despite being out for the past year with a knee ligament injury, Birchall has been showing in pre-season what he is capable of and is relishing the chance of testing himself against the club’s strikers for a place in the first eleven:

“When there’s competition for places, everyone is playing for their shirt and the gaffer and the coaching staff have come in and are pushing us hard. You can’t let your standards slip as they’ll be quick to tell you, so you have to work your hardest if you want a shirt.”

“At the minute, it’s about getting minutes under my belt and trying to press the gaffer.”

“To be a professional footballer you have got to back yourself all the way. It’s something I didn’t really do at Arsenal when I was there and got to the first team, so when you play, you’ve got to think you’re good enough to play, worry about yourself and do your best for the team.”

The early indications suggest Birchall will start the new season on the bench after playing just the last ten minutes of the pre-season friendly against Charlton Athletic whilst missing the final friendly of the summer against Watford.